Tent City (24 page)

She looks up at me expectantly. I know I probably shouldn’t say my real name, but I do anyway.

“I’m Danielle,” I say, extending my hand as I walk over to him. He looks to be about 30 years old. He has a scruffy blonde beard and a warm smile.

“I’m Jonah.” The man shakes my hand vigorously and then calls back to what must be his wife, “Do you need help out of the water, Hon? Avery has made a new friend.”

“No, I think I got it,” she says, a little breathless, and as she exits the water, I see why she might have needed help. She looks to be about nine months pregnant. Nevertheless, he rushes over to ease her out of the water, careful she doesn’t slip. He leads her over to the clearing and helps her sit down on a boulder.

“Sorry, I can’t stand for too long,” she says, almost panting to catch her breath. “I’m getting to be about as big as a house!”

“Honey, this is Danielle. I think Avery found her over in those trees.” And then he looks at me, “Danielle, this is my beautiful and very pregnant, wife Jessica.”

I walk over to her and shake her hand. She’s a tiny woman, seemingly taken over by her protruding belly. I feel instant sympathy for her condition and for some reason, I’m already quite taken with this little family. It makes me ache for my own and then I have an idea.

“Have you guys eaten lunch?” I ask.

“No, we haven’t eaten since yesterday,” Avery says.

“Avery!” her father scolds.

“We are just going to look around here. There’s got to be some berries or something edible. My husband here is amazing at finding the good stuff,” Jessica says, as she looks admiringly at her husband.

“Well, I guess I’m lucky I ran into you guys. I have all this food in my bag and I could use some help eating it. I wouldn’t mind the company either, if that’s okay with you?”

“We don’t want to put you out,” Jonah says, but I can’t help but think he is grateful to have a meal for his family when they look like they desperately need it.

“No, no. You’ll be doing me the favor,” I say, hoping to convince them.

Before I let them say anymore, I’m already laying out the picnic blanket and start spreading out the food Kit has packed. I’m relieved that she has seen fit to fatten me up because she has packed enough for a half dozen people.

She has packed three peanut butter and jam sandwiches, two apples, a bag of crackers, some fig cakes, and at the very bottom I see she has packed some deer jerky. She has also included two bottles of tea and I pass it all out.

They see
m hesitant to take any of it. Jonah tells me he doesn’t want to take from me and I try to convince him that I had a big breakfast and wouldn’t be eating it all anyway.

“Seriously guys, I’ve got more than enough. You’ll hurt my feelings if you don’t.”

“Okay, we’ll eat, but only if you do too,” Jessica says.

Realizing this is the only way they’re going to take it, I start nibbling on a piece of jerky. Avery sees this as her cue and starts to dig into the fig cake.

“Avery!” her mother scolds this time.

“It’s okay Honey, let her enjoy herself. She’s been hungry long enough,” Jonah says, and he pushes his figs toward her.

She puts those down and picks up the apple and appraises it before taking a voracious bite.

The joy I see on her face almost brings tears to my eyes and I realize how lucky I’ve been.

Back home, since we lived on the farm, there was enough food. Even in Tent City, I have not gone without. It seems I have forgotten it’s not this way for everyone.

I watch the little family eat. They all seem ravenous, but I watch Jonah as he pushes his food towards his wife and child. Avery eats every mealy speck of the apple, licking her fingers as she spits the seeds to the side.

They finish all the food, except the jerky, and I hand it to him and tell him to keep it for later. I can tell he wants to tell me no, but he looks over at his wife and glances at her belly and relents. I take the empty tea bottles and fill them under the waterfall and sit back down.

I give a bottle to Jessica and one to Avery and they quench their thirst.

“So, where are you from?” Avery asks, as I situate myself beside the little family whom, for some reason or another, I have already grown to love in some way.

Maybe there’s something to feeding someone. It feels as though we are bonded in some way. I can’t explain it, but I feel somewhat responsible for them. Seeing how vulnerable they are pulls at me in much the same way I feel about Brody.

“I live not too far from here.” I’ve got Bentley in my mind when I say this. I would love to drag them back to Tent City, but I can’t forget the fact that I know nothing about them.

“How about you?” I ask back.  

“We’re from the compound,” Avery says.

“Avery!” both her mother and father exclaim. Jonah excuses himself and scoops the little girl up to take her somewhere far enough, so I don’t hear their conversation.

“You’ll have to excuse us,” Jessica says, shifting around on the boulder, obviously uncomfortable. “I feel like a ninny that we have to be so secretive when obviously you have been so generous, but you know how it is now. You just never know.”

“No need to explain,” I tell her. “I get that,” I say, and I do.

They don’t need to tell me anything. Truth is, I feel the exact same way. They come back and Avery looks down at the ground, not meeting my eyes.

“Avery, I’m so sorry. We don’t need to talk about anything like that. Your parents are right. You shouldn’t tell strangers things about yourself.”

“Why?” She says this in such a way that I find myself considering the question deeply.

“It’s just the way the world works I guess,” offering the only answer I can come up with.

We sit in silence for a while when I ask the question that’s been on my mind since I met them.

I hesitate remembering the time I asked our neighbor Mrs. Thompson when her baby was due. She had a horrified look on her face and then looking embarrassed, she told me that, “she was too old to have babies anymore.”

The lecture Mom gave me about never asking a woman when she’s due brings a smile to my face now. But there’s no doubt in my mind when it comes to Jessica.

“What are you going to do when the baby comes?”

I figure this is a safe enough question since it doesn’t exactly tell me who they are or where they come from.

“And for the record, I am not from The Council.”  

Worry washes over Jonah’s face and their lack of answer tells me that they don’t know.

“We had this little one at home, so I guess we are hoping we have a smooth ride like last time,” Jessica finally answers.

“God will take care of us,” she adds, as she rubs her belly.

I can’t bring myself to leave just yet, so I invite Avery for a swim. She gives a pleading look to her parents, imploring them with her big blue eyes and her dad just hoots and says, “Have fun.”

I don’t dare do the jump with her here, fearing she may get ideas of her own. But we do swim and have a blast playing Marco Polo.

Finally, when I realize that I should be getting back to Brody, I tell the little family I have to go. Avery seems upset by this, and asks me if I will come back. Well, begs me, is probably more accurate. I so wish I could take her back and introduce her to Brody.

“Maybe I could come back tomorrow?” I ask, as I’m leaning down to say good-bye. I glance up at Jonah to see if they will stick around.

“You know, this isn’t the worst place to live for a while,” I say to Jonah. “There’s plenty of fresh water and behind those rocks over there is a little cave you could use for shelter. And as far as I know, no one comes around here. I’ve been coming for a while and you guys are the first people I’ve seen in this area.”

“We’ll consider it,” he says. “And thank you for your generosity. You have done my family a great service.”

I leave even though I don’t really want to go. I have a strange pull to them and I realize it’s because they remind me of my own family. They represent what I have left behind with my parents. They’re just a mom and a dad, struggling to make it. Avery doesn’t have much to worry about. She leaves that up to her parents. In Tent City, I have to be the responsible one and look after Brody.

I find myself missing Mom and Dad more than ever. I wonder how they are doing. I remember the destroyed letter that sits in the cabin and I feel desperate to be able to read the crumbles that will no longer tell me what Dad had to say. Maybe when I get back I will see if it can be repaired.

As I’m running, I also think about what Avery said about a compound. Jessica also said, “God will take care of us.” They must be runaways from the spiritual compounds. The compounds were set up by Burke for people to live and worship freely.

After the locusts, many religious fanatics believed it was the end of the world coming and the compounds were supposed to be like worshipping grounds. They wanted to help save as many souls as they could before the end of the world came. They ended up being glorified prisons. Fences were put up and the people were not allowed to leave.

I go back for the next three days. They’re starting to trust me more. I always bring food. More than enough. I’ve had to resort to sneaking it out of the kitchen when Callie isn’t looking.

I try to feel bad for stealing from Tent City, but I don’t. Jonah and his family need this more than anyone in Tent City.

It gets to be a lot of miles. It’s at least six there and six back, but I’m getting stronger and I’m glad for the purpose. Kit is suspicious, but she seems happy enough that I’m taking the food, assuming I’m eating it.

On the fourth day, they are nowhere to be found. I call out for them, but they are not in their usual spot by the spillway. I crawl around towards the back where the caves are and where I assume they sleep. When I get closer, I hear screaming.

It’s Jessica, and I’m thinking the worst. Maybe they’ve been attacked. I pull out my knife and pray for the training to kick in that Grant has given. I try to come in near the shadows, so as not to be seen. The water crashing is drowning out some of the sound, but I hear another muffled scream from Jessica. My heart is racing and I force myself to have the courage to push forward. I spring forward, knife extended, when I’m stunned by what I see.

There’s no one attacking Jessica. She’s in labor. She is lying on the bedrock and Jonah has a bag propped up under her head. She looks up at me terrified. I almost drop the knife when I realize what I must look like, but I quickly put it back in its holster at the back of my pants.

“Is she okay?” I ask, feeling panicky as I lean down towards her. Avery is holding a cloth to her head and Jonah looks stricken with worry. “Is this normal? Is this going to be okay? Is there anything I can do?”

“I don’t know,” he says, his voice trembling. “She’s been in labor since last night. It shouldn’t’ be taking this long. I think something might be wrong. This went much quicker last time.”

“I need to get help, Jonah. We need to take her to the hospital.” I ask him to come outside the cave and he follows.

“We need to get her out of here. I could go back to where I’m from and get a four-wheeler. We can take her. Jonah, it’s not too late. She could die. We have to do something,” I beg.

“We can’t. When we left the compound, they made it very clear what would happen if they caught us. Jess would never allow it. We left because they were going to take Avery…and maybe even the baby. She won’t let that happen.”

“There must be something!” I’m aware that I’m getting hysterical right now, but I’m certain Jessica needs help. There is blood all over the ground where she is lying. I’m not sure how much is normal to lose in childbirth, but it doesn’t look good.